Albus Potter and the Zombie Invasion
by Juishy Jay
Summary: Albus Potter is a Slytherin! Funnily enough, that turns out to be... not bad. Most of Hogwarts—in fact, most of the world—didn't think so but who cared what they thought! His family is... alright with it. And he ended up bagging himself some great friends. And—just maybe—what with all the stuff—whisper it: ZOMBIES!—Albus could just end up with just as much attention as his father!
1. The Train Ride

**Welcome to ALBUS POTTER AND THE ZOMBIE INVASION! This story is mostly CANNON! up until Albus gets onto the train and then I'm basically just doing whatever tickles my fancy. I would like to say though that all characters belong to J.K Rowling's—the queen steering the wheel of the Wizarding World. Any characters that you do NOT recognize, however, are of my invention! Enjoy the story!**

Hands—rather warm ones—closed around Albus's shoulders and shook him. Urgently. "C'mon, Al!" came Rose's insistent voice.

Albus shrugged her off, and thankfully, she budged and left with a huff, leaving Albus gloriously alone in peace, face plastered to the window, watching as his family waved, beaming and waved... and... and, he couldn't see them anymore.

But still he remained that way, willing the memory back.

Of their faces, equal-parts happy and sad.

But it was already weak. Flickering…

Albus closed his eyes, teeth grinded, trying… he needed that memory! He needed it so—

"They're gone, you know."

Albus went still. He quickly wiped the tears that had trickled out with the back of his palm. Drank in some breaths, messed up his hair, and fixed a cocky smile onto his lips that he really wasn't feeling. And then whirled about. "Who's gone?"

It was a boy.

Tall. Taller than Albus, anyway. Blonde-haired. Or no; not really blonde, but also kind of white-haired, it was really quite odd, weird really. And grey eyes, and pale skin and... and was he saying something?

"Come agan!"

The boy chuckled, and his eyes seemed to light up, a little spark going off. "Your family," the boy stepped forward, tucking in beside Albus, almost dismissing Albus's frown, and placed his hands to the window, looking quite... sad.

Then there was this small smirk on his face, not really happy, but more sad, actually. "They're gone! Mine are, too."

Albus scowled. His family wasn't gone! And he told the boy this.

The boy chuckled and gave a little shrug that kinda irritated him. "Not yet, maybe. But in time..." the boy glanced up from the window and seemed to finally see Albus's scowl because the words had died on his lips.

The boy offered a small smile that Albus didn't bother returning, and like that—in silence—they stood, gazing out the back window to the Hogwarts Express as it bundled along.

Albus couldn't help his mind drifting back to the boy's words. His jaw hardened. And he balled his fists. His family wasn't gone! And they'd never be gone!

"Hey," Albus glanced up into the boy. "I'm heading back into my compartment." Albus nodded. He was going to remain here a bit and... he didn't know just what he was going to do out there before the window but it'd be worthwhile and—

"I've got room," the boy said. He was standing in the ajar doorway of the last compartment now. Apparently, he'd got that one all for himself. "If you want, of course..." he offered, rather casually.

Actually, Albus didn't. Well, not really. He'd like to be left alone to his tornado thoughts drifting about in his heads and... well, he didn't know what else. What he did know, though, was that being alone quickly made one lonely. At least it always made him lonely. And he definitely didn't want to be seen out here by one of the rest of his rather large family. Speaking of which, it was rather surprising that that had yet to happen. Perhaps Rose had yet to tell them.

A door rang shut.

He picked up his trunk easily, smirking as he remembered asking Victoire to featherweight-charm his trunk. James, on the other hand—his buffoon brother—despite having a whole two years of Hogwarts experience to fall back on, had totally forgotten to place one on his very own trunk. Albus had made sure to tease his brother about it, and that had began the whole drama on the way to the platform.

Albus rolled his eyes as he pulled the compartment door open. His brother was... _urgh_.

The boy glanced up wearing a hopeful expression that became a beam when he saw Albus. Then, the boy shook his head and now he was smirking in that trickster way that made Albus reconsider his decision.

But then he'd already entered the compartment and it'd be foolish, really, to head out again and.. do what, really? So Albus shut the compartment door close and ate up the other available seat with his buttocks.

The boy smirked at him in this weird way. Like he knew something that Albus didn't, something Albus would want to know, but of course, he wasn't going to tell Albus...

Albus sighed, glancing out the window. He had quite a bit of experience with people like this. His very own flesh and blood happened to be one. His whole life was experience.

The boy kept on looking at him with that smirk.

And Albus kept on ignoring him, stonily glancing out the window, watching as fields blurred by. And cows, and all sorts of animals flashed by, eating up enough of Albus's attention and curiosity. And the boy's too, because finally he was looking at it, and for once, not Albus.

The compartment door slid open. There was this young woman out there in the corridor, pushing a trolley. She couldn't be long out of Hogwarts. Five years, maximum. Kinda pretty, though. She smiled at them through the ajar door.

"Hungry, boys?"

"Starving!" the boy replied immediately.

Albus shook his head in a no.

The boy glanced at him questioningly, and in epically bad timing, Albus's tummy chose that exact, very moment to let off a rumble.

Albus was pretty sure his cheeks resembled the famous Weasley hair and the boy, and the trolley lady were both glancing at him, almost demanding answers. Albus gulped and glanced out the window.

And gasped as something... something with feathers flashed by, super fast. Somebody's owl, he was guessing. It reminded him of his own owl that he'd gotten on his birthday. But she was already on her way to Hogwarts, by now. At least that was what Albus had told her to do.

The compartment door slid back shut and Albus glanced up only to get a Chocolate Frog to the face. He peeled it off his face, scowling at the boy who'd found his way back to his seat.

"I said I wasn't hungry!"

The boy shrugged and hurled another at Albus, which he caught, scowling. "Bought a few too many. Figured you could help me out a bit." He winked at Albus.

Albus couldn't help his suspicion, holding the frogs up cautiously. "You're sure? No nothing else, or..." Well, money, really. But that wasn't too bad. If it came down to it, Albus could always get the galleons from James. Something he really should have done ages ago.

The boy removed his teeth from his Chocolate Frog, smirking like the devil, himself. "Nope." He raised his hands up which Harry took to mean 'not gonna hurt you'. "No ulterior motive here than simply two boys going down on some delicious Chocolate Frogs." The boy winked at Albus, once more, who finally wound down a little and chuckled.

And then took the wrapper off his Chocolate Frog and dug in.

"I must say, rather Slytherin of you, Potter!" Albus removed his teeth from the Frog and glanced up, slack-jawed, blinking at the boy in shock.

The boy calmly took another bite, and then wiped a small stain at the side of his lips. And then finally seemed to recognize Albus. And his expression.

"What? You didn't actually think I didn't know who you were, did you?" Albus scowled. And the boy roared with laughter. "Oh, this is rich. You did!" The boy guffawed. After a few seconds, he re-caught his breath, wearing quite the smirk. "Bet you know my name, don't you, Albus?" The boy glanced at him sharply. "Can I call you Albus? I always hated that whole always-use-the-surname-thing."

Albus nodded dumbly. But remained silent. The boy breathed in surprise. "You don't?!" The boy seemed so rattled by that. So shocked and for the first time that all-knowing smirk slid off his face to be replaced by... confusion. And uncertainty. Albus could literally see the broomstick take off from the ground in the boy's mind as he gobbled up the Chocolate Frogs.

Albus hesitantly stretched forward and snagged a couple for himself. The boy didn't seem to notice, but Albus's stomach certainly did.

In silence, the two boys ate.

Albus blatantly stared at the other boy, his mind whirring.

It wasn't all that surprising, really, that the boy recognized Albus. What was surprising was that he hadn't said anything. Most people gasped in amazement when they realized who he was. And then began beating him with questions about how magical and wonderful his life must be. But that wasn't how it'd been. The boy hardly seemed in awe of Albus.

It was a different feeling, definitely a good one. But new, still, of a stranger.

But what really made him curious was the boy's shock when he realized that Albus didn't know his name. Like Albus logically should already know that. Almost like this boy was as popular as Albus. As famous. Speaking of which, Albus still didn't know his name.

He opened his mouth, intending to—

"Wanna trade?" the boy asked, holding a Salazr Slytherin card, smirking again in that way.

Albus glanced down at the Merlin card in his hand. He did have quite a lot of Slytherin's. It was one of James's favourite topics to tease Albus about. And he also had loads of Merlin's. Which meant this deal didn't really do much for him.

...But there was something he wanted. And something he could get.

He stretched his hand forward, and the boy extended his, as well, smirking again. Until Albus held onto his card and the boy began frowning down at Albus's hand. Then up into Albus's face. Looking confused.

"You can have both cards." The boy gave Albus an incredulous glance. "If..." The boy was frowning again. "You tell me your name."

The boy blinked at his words. Then chuckled, his lips settling into that annoying smirk again. "Deal."

But there they remained. Albus still holding onto his card, the boy offering his.

"Scorpius."

 _Malfoy._

Huh.

Huh.

Huh?

 _This_ was the Malfoy scion?

Where was all the... what was it? Evil! Where was all that?

The boy tugged the card out of Albus's fingers and leaned back into his cushy seat. Scorpius, that was his name. Scorpius. "Figured it out yet, Albus?"

Albus couldn't help his chuckle. "Malfoy..."

"Potter..." Scorpius replied mockingly.

Albus sniggered. He did deserve that, he'd admit.

"You're not much... I dunno... bad."

"You're not much of a hero either, mate."

Albus smirked. No, no, he wasn't. But then neither had his father—at least on the train ride to Hogwarts.

They were quiet now.

The boy—Scorpius, Albus reminded himself—was glancing out the window now as he finished up the remaining Chocolate Frogs. Albus was already done with the ones he'd managed to nick off him.

And he—Scorpius—wasn't looking all too... smirky.

"Soo..." Albus said in hopes of breaking the annoying tension.

Scorpius glanced at him sharply. And then he gave that smirk. "Soo..."

Albus laughed. Scorpius finished up his last Frog, licked his fingers clean, rubbed the stains—very few actually, surprisingly—of his lips. Scorpius smacked his lips. "Good stuff, Chocolate Frogs, wouldn't you agree?"

Albus run hand through his jet-black hair, leaning back. "Well, it's good stuff. But I'd definitely take a Cauldron Cake over it at least five times a week."

"Dunno, mate," Scorpius patted his head appreciatively, "I, myself," he obnoxiously regarded himself, "would have a Pumpkin pasty all day."

"Why didn't you get one then? Off the trolley?"

"Right shame it is, but she was all out." And the boy genuinely did look disappointed at that. Though Albus wasn't sure if it was real or acting. Either way, it was quite funny.

But then Scorpius's face seemed to clear up and he was now oddly serious. "Which just goes to show that Pumpkin Pasties beat Cauldron Cakes all day."

"Bollocks!" Albus protested. "I mean the Cannons still sell tickets and everybody knows they're garbage."

Scorpius nodded his head. "Cannons are garbage, I'll give you that. I, myself, happen to favour Catapults."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Mate, Llewellyn is dead, and so is you guys' team."

Scorpius sat up and Albus mirrored him, feeling quite alive. "We've got a solid team this year. We replaced our dung seeker with Xi Li from Karasjok Kites and—"

"No, you haven't. It hasn't been confirmed yet and you know it, besides—"

Scorpuis waved it off. "Practically is. My old man's got some contacts in the Department of Magical Games and Sports and he says it should be announced real soon."

Albus shrugged. "You better hope so because trade season is nearly over. What is it? Just a day left, right?"

"Two," Scorpius growled. "And besides, we still got Richard Horton. Bet you our defence will be one of the best this year with him between the sticks."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, y'all better hope Xi Li is as good the hype. Because we all know the Scandinavian League isn't as strong as it used to be."

Scorpius scowled. "And just what team are _you_ going for anyways?"

"The Bats, mate."

Scorpius snorted. "Mate, y'all ain't catching the Magpies anytime soon."

Albus pff'd. "And why not?" They were just one title away from tying it up. "They just got rid of McLeod, their manager. Replaced him with Maddock. You know that buffoon that McLeod fired like a decade ago. I reckon they're in disarray. Probably just got rid of McLeod because they _pied_ it up _again_ last year." Albus laughed, and Scorpius chuckled. "No, but really, did you hear? Maddock traded Campell—you know, their _starting_ seeker—for that Irish rookie Will Grigg."

"I hear he's pretty good, though. He literally single handedly won the Irish their fifth Junior Quidditch Cup, so..."

"Yeah, but mate, we've still got Quiqley. Remember last year when Puddlemore went to Ireland all cocky saying how they were gonna embarrass the Bats and then Quiqley smoked Benjy Williams. Smoked 'em." Albus laughed.

"Yeah, I remember," Scorpius said, scowling. "I was there with my old man."

"Really?" Albus, himself, had wanted to attend. But his father had been tied up with a case and... yeah, he hadn't been able to take Albus.

Scorpius nodded. "My old man had some business in Ireland and it was on my birthday..."

Albus nodded. That made sense. "Some birthday."

Scorpius nodded. "I was hoping Puddlemore _would_ smoke the Bats, of course, but yeah..."

"Yeah, well, mate, sorry to disappoint you and all but the Bats are gonna keep on beating seekers outta town!" Albus said with relish. After all, the Bats held the single best defensive record in the league. For two decades straight.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "We'll see about that. The Bats travel to Scotland in Week Four; bet you a galleon Will Grigg gets the snitch."

Albus sneered. "Quiqley'd never allow that! You've got yourself a deal, Malfoy."

Scorpius chuckled. "Mate, Quiqley's like fifty. It's a miracle he's still going. And last year he only had 17 smokes."

Albus frowned. "He was third best in the league, mate, what're you on about?"

"That was his worst return, though, since coming into the league."

"Says loads, though, doesn't it, that his worst return is the third best in the league."

Scorpius shrugged. "Hey, nobody's disputing he's a legend. In fact, I bet he gets the Dangerous Dai Llewellyn Award once he finally gives up his broom. But you've gotta admit his glory days are behind him, mate." Scorpius could not have looked smugger as he argued his point.

Albus waved his argument away. "Meh, whatever." Scorpius laughed. "Got a chess board or something?"

Scorpius shook his head, still laughing his head off. " _Of course not_!" That just made Scorpius laugh even harder.

"To be fair," Scorpius said, once he was done laughing. "it is my trunk." Albus glanced at his trunk questioningly. "But... there's no way I'm getting my board out without spilling everything out."

"So... that's a no then?"

Scorpius chuckled. "Yes, Albus, that's a no!" He laughed.

Albus rolled his eyes. "Well, then, you have something in mind? Because there's still a long way till Hogwarts, I'm guessing." He glanced out the window. The sun was setting, but it wasn't quite dark yet.

Scorpius had got his wand out, and waved it. "Tempus!" he said clearly. A hazy clock shimmered to life and it read nearly five o' clock.

Scorpius stuffed his wand back into his pocket and smiled at Albus. "Well, we could just wait it out. I reckon we're about an hour removed from Hogwarts."

Albus slouched, blowing an irritated breath out. "So what then? Be silent for an hour?!"

Scorpius shrugged. "I never said it was a great idea," he said defensively.

"Right..."

"Don't you know any other games?" Albus glanced sharply at Scorpius. "I mean, except from chess and the rest, obviously. Like muggle games, maybe, I thought, you know because—"

"Don't you?"

Scorpius flushed, and shook his head. "Nope."

They fell into silence. Uncomfortable silence.

Scorpius had expected Albus to know some games. Muggle ones. Because his family was a bit more open to the muggle world. In fact, his Aunt Hermione, currently Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was a muggle-born.

"I do. I know some games but I don't have the stuff I'd need."

Scorpius nodded, like that made sense, like he understood. "Maybe we can... I dunno... recreate it?"

Albus run a hand through his hair and sighed. "Dunno. I mean the only game we could make up would be like a cards game." Scorpius looked lost. "You know, because we have cards." Scorpius still looked lost. "Chocolate Frog cards!"

His pale face brightened. "Oh!"

"Yeah..."

And then Scorpius was back to frowning in that way that made it a tad obvious he was curious. "But how?"

Albus sighed. "Dunno. Never actually tried this out, you know. I was just saying..."

Now, Scorpius was smirking in that way that made Albus roll his eyes. "So basically what you're saying is you're not smart enough to come up with a spin-off of a muggle cards game?"

"What! How d'you even get—"

Then he saw Scorpius smirking in that all too familiar way and he sighed and sank back into his seat, ignoring Scorpius's perfectly stupidly sculpted face, with his stupid smirk, looking purely perfect and... and—

"I'll show you..."

"Huh?"

Albus sniggered at Scorpius's confusion. "At school, I'll show you the game." That'd give him time. Time to actually come up with the spin-off. A decent one, as well.

Scorpius blinked at him for a few seconds. "Yeah... I mean, yeah, sure, definitely. You promise?"

Albus chuckled and rolled his eyes at the sudden turn into seriousness. "Sure, Malfoy, lil' Albus promises." They laughed together at Albus's sarcasm.

And they still were when their compartment door slid open.

And it was Victoire. And Rose, as well. And... his brother, James.

Albus sighed. This was about to get interesting.

All three of them immediately gave him warm reactions—smiles and James smirking—and then they noticed Scorpius lounging just beside Albus, and then suddenly they were frowning and he could literally see the question imprinted upon their foreheads but Victoire and Rose were too tactful to simply blurt—

"What the hell are you doing in here with a Malfoy?"

Albus closed his eyes. But not his idiot brother! Damn!

He opened his eyes. "Enjoying his lovely company, perhaps, Jamesy?" Albus noticed Victoire and Rose exchange a glance. They looked more surprised, and yes, a tinge worried.

James, though, was scowling. "Don't call me that." Then his scowl deepened. "And what d'you mean enjoying Malfoy's company? We both know he's—"

"Seemingly loads of fun!" Victoire interjected, turning to face James. "I heard them laughing. I'm sure you did too, James. Didn't you?" Victoire asked coolly, a brow raised, looking elegant and prim and... damn!

Albus and Scorpius exchanged a quick, bemused glance whilst James stuttered for a response. In the end, he settled for a nod, red-faced.

Victoire acknowledged it with a stiff one in return and turned back to face Albus. She offered him a comforting smile. "I see you've already made a friend. We," she gestured to the little 'squad' they'd gathered, "were just wondering where you'd taken off to. Quite understandable, really, considering we're family." And now she was looking closely into Albus, who gave a weak smile in response, avoiding her eyes and struggling not to gulp and just hoping, and praying to the gods—any god who'd hear him—for them to leave and just, just, just leave and—

"We'll leave you to your friend. We should be at Hogwarts in less than fifteen minutes. You might want to get yourself ready."

Rose nodded like the all-important person she thought she was. "Yeah, sorting's coming up."

Victoire spared his red-haired cousin a glance. "Indeed." She glanced back into Albus. "I wouldn't want you to regret your choice." She didn't glance at Scorpius. And she didn't need to. Her message was clear.

"Thank you for your visit," Scorpius said crisply and Albus focused on Victoire's impassive face, unable to bear to glance at the boy. "And advice," Scorpius continued, sarcasm dripping off his lips. "We were actually in the middle of a pretty fun game when you guys inter—came in. If you don't mind, we'd like to... wrap up before we arrive at Hogwarts."

Victoire smiled in that amused way she always did that always irritated Albus, gave that even more irritating chuckle and spun around so graciously it left Albus frothing at the mouth in anger and flicked her hand ever so subtly at Rose and James who obeyed her far too easily and before Albus could fully consider jinxing the back of her, the compartment door rang shut and Albus slouched into his seat, avoiding Scorpius's eyes with determination.

And Scorpius seemed more than pleased to leave him be.

Soon enough, something whirred above their ears, and a robotic voice came on, "We'll be reaching Hogwarts in five short minutes. Please make sure to leave your trunk on the train as it will be taken to your dorms according to your Sorting."

Albus sighed and closed his eyes, his stomach dancing about. They just haaaaad to mention the bloody Sorting, didn't they?

 **Soooooo... Are you feeling it? Drop a comment down below, tell me what you're feeling!**


	2. The Sorting

So… Slytherin or Gryffindor?

Sounded more like villain or hero, really.

Albus snorted.

Just bloody—

"Hey, you alright?"

Albus glanced up. Scorpius was looking at him with this sharp eye. And Albus fidgeted in his seat a tad and run a hand through his hair. "Yeah... yeah, I'm good." He even added a smile for effect.

Scorpius studied him for a second longer then nodded. "Alright." And then he was back to old smirking Scorpius. "Some family you've got!"

" _Tell me about it_."

Scorpius laughed as the train began skidding to a stop. Albus rolled his eyes, and cringed as a rather loud screech sounded and then finally, finally, they were at Hogwarts.

Albus took a breath and glanced out the window for his first glance, and—

It was still light...

Albus frowned. His father always talked with such reference about his pitch-black first night and how his classmates and him had been shivering in the cold and then they'd seen this giant Hagrid—

"Hey, you coming?"

Albus glanced up. Scorpius stood in the ajar doorway of the compartment door, that smirk still playing on his lips.

Albus chuckled. "Just might," he replied and rose to his feet. They chuckled and joined the students in the corridor.

It was quite a struggle getting onto the platform, people pushing their way, hollering and laughing as they did and Scorpius ended up charming this chap's hair pink and Albus couldn't help but laugh and—

"Firs' years," came this loud, rather familiar voice. Scorpius flinched. And so did the others on the platform. Hagrid came into view, a lamp in his hands but not on. Hagrid didn't really need it, Albus figured. Not when it was still light out. "Come along, come along. All right, Albus?"

Albus smirked as glances hit him; sharp and confused. He nodded. "Right as rain, Hagrid."

Hagrid nodded his large head, a bit of water coming out of his thick beard and then there were cries of disgust, but Hagrid didn't seem to notice, beaming brightly. "Follow me, firs' years. C'mon!" And then he'd turned around and was already putting in quite a distance between him and the students.

Albus glanced about. And caught a glimpse of some students being pulled away in some carriage. Heading towards the school, he was guessing. He remembered something about the older years riding to school in a carriage.

Kinda explained why the first years were all alone on the platform.

And then Scorpius decided pushing Albus in the back was a smashing idea. Thankfully, however, Albus didn't fall onto his bum, managing to remain on his feet.

And that seemed to break the ice, and now everyone trailed behind Albus and Scorpius, who—smirking stupidly—had found himself flanking Albus as they manoeuvred themselves along a steep, narrow path.

Every now and then somebody would sniffle, or perhaps gasp and some even shrieked as they lost their footing and Scorpius infected Albus with laughter. But then seconds later, they'd be silent again, shuffling after Hagrid who it seemed couldn't be bothered by the dodgy tall thick trees, clouding over them even though Albus was rather sure it was still supposed to be light out.

"Almos' there," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' this bend right here."

And Albus gasped.

And so did Scorpius.

They'd reached a clearing now. They stood—hovering really in Scorpius's case—at the edge of this great big lake. It seemed to... _pop_ even more in the dark—the castle. It almost looked like stars—the light—sparkling now just under the sky, high up there on the other side, stacked on mountains. Towers. And towers. And even more towers.

Somebody said something. Loud, too. Albus couldn't really hear them, though.

And then somebody was dragging him. It was Scorpius and he led Albus to a boat lounging at the shore of the lake. These two blokes plodded right in after them. Albus nodded at them in greeting and tucked in for what he was sure was gonna be a rough ride.

After all, there was no such thing as smooth sailing in the wizarding world.

Hagrid didn't even ask if everyone was properly in their boats before shouting, "FORWARD!"

Then the fleet of boats took off like a little navy, following after Hagrid's big one in front like he was a commander or summin'. Everyone—even Scorpius—had their trap zipped up tight, staring at the castle up ahead like it was some kind of beacon.

Then Hagrid shouted again, "Heads down!" as they reached the cliff, the boats cutting through the water like glass.

And Albus was about to follow Hagrid's command before a hand settled upon his head and forced his head down—for him.

Scowling, Albus watched as the boats carried them pass a patch of grass in the water and then finally, the weight was off his head as they entered a dark tunnel with this god-awful smell attacking their innocent noses and Albus sucked in a breath until finally fresh air slapped him in the face as they reached a harbour.

Albus climbed out of the boat in a hurry and scowled as he watched a smirking Scorpius climb out, too, just more calmly, and... coolly.

"I hate you!"

A snort sounded. It came from one of the boys who had joined them for the boat ride. He pointed at Hagrid, who had gone back into the water, looking frantic and now held up a blonde-haired boy who looked soaked. To his boots. Albus laughed.

"Not as much as that guy, you don't."

He _did_ have a point. The way blondie was glaring at Scorpius definitely didn't carry the same punch on Albus. A bit heavier on blondie's side. Much heavier.

He laughed again, this time because he had seen Rose worriedly trotting after Hagrid who was helping blondie down a passageway before them, blondie's loud chattering teeth blaring in the silence as Albus struggled to contain his laughter; Scorpius gave up trying to hold it in once they reached the grass, literally right before the castle door.

Up the staircase, Albus went, accompanied by Scorpius's laughter and his clever re-enacting of blondie's shivering and their classmates watched on with this sharp eye and—

Somebody knocked on a door.

Albus peeked over the heads and saw Hagrid's large hand connect twice more.

The door creaked open.

Slowly, it seemed to part ways and reveal... nobody behind it...?

Albus frowned and returned back to the ground from his tip-toeing, very confused.

"The firs' years, Professor." Hagrid was saying.

Albus exchanged puzzled glances with Scorpius, who shrugged at him. Albus deflated in disappointment.

"Oh dear!" The professor, Albus assumed, squeaked. "That won't do, at all." Something happened and the students ahead of them gasped and a weird laughter sounded. Almost animal-like. "I'll take it from here, Hagrid."

"You sure? He still looks a lil'—"

"He should be fine, Hagrid, don't worry."

And now, Hagrid gave his large head a strong nod and walked in past the ajar door.

"Come on in."

Albus couldn't see who was giving the instruction but he followed nicely after the students into entrance hall. Pleasantly surprised to see that his father hadn't exaggerated just one bit about it's large size. There were flaming torches on the stone walls. And the ceiling was so high above them Albus got dizzy trying to make out what was up there. So Scorpius ended up leading him up some nice marble staircase, laughing it up all the way.

And then now they were on stone floor, and voices trickled out from a doorway to the right—and Albus figured the older years had already arrived—but the students ushered themselves into some empty chamber off the hall. It was small, and packed in there. And yet the nerves were so glaring.

Scorpius sighed next to Albus. "Still've got no clue who the Deputy is," he hissed to Albus.

Albus frowned. "How d'you know that's the Deputy?"

"The Deputy always leads the first-years." Scorpius shrugged.

Albus hmm'd. He hadn't known that. And that meant... "Guess you're right. With how short Flitwick is, suppose we _wouldn't_ see him over the heads."

Scorpius nodded dully and gave Flitwick his attention. Apparently the Deputy was talking. Albus glanced around and realized everyone was listening very attentively and followed suit.

"...family. Throughout your stay in Hogwarts, you'll have classes with your house-mates, sleep in your House dormitory and mostly spend free time in your House common room.

"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw... and Slytherin. These are your choices. Each house has its own unique history and has produced several outstanding witches and wizards. While here, your triumphs will earn your House points and any rule breaking will lose your House points. At the end of the year—

Scorpius leaned into Albus. "If you're caught, of course," he whispered, smirking. Albus chuckled and smirked back.

"...prepare yourself while you wait." And then she left the chamber, finally, Albus getting a glance of her and managing to confirm that it indeed was Professor Flitwick. From the stories he'd heard of him, anyway.

"He's supposed to be very fair, though, right?" Scorpius asked him. It was rather hard to hear with the explosion of whispers that had gone off in the chamber.

Albus nodded. "From what I've heard, yeah." At least that was how Flitwick always came off in his father's stories.

A good teacher and always fair.

Scorpius nodded. "So... any thoughts on where you're headed?"

Albus sighed. Merlin, did he?

"Whatever the Hat decides, I guess." He tried to sound casual about it, but the sweat in his armpits and his hands seem to suddenly pop up if only just to remind him that that wasn't quite the case.

And Scorpius, too, seemed to get that but he nodded his head, all understanding-like, even mhm'ing and all. "Well, then, mate, best of luck to you."

Albus smirked. "Thanks. Where're _you_ headed?"

Scorpius gave Albus a look that almost seemed to ask him 'really?' But Albus didn't care. He didn't want to think about the Sorting. _His_ sorting, anyways.

Scorpius shrugged after a while. "Anywhere but Hufflpuff is game for me, I reckon."

Albus chuckled. "Not a 'Puff then?"

Scorpius snorted. "Are you kidding?"

Albus laughed.

"You know about the Hat then?"

Albus gave Scorpius a confused look. "Yeah..."

Scorpius was smirking. "Watch this."

He turned to the trio of girls beside them and suddenly put this uncertain look on his face that Albus had yet to see. "Um..." he began uncertainly. And Albus almost rubbed his eyes, blinking to make sure he saw right. "Do you girls know how we get sorted?"

Albus raised a brow.

The girls all shook their heads miserably. One, black-haired, said gloomily, "No idea."

Scorpius sighed. "Shame. My brother says we have to fight off a zombie and based on how well we do, they decide our Houses." Scorpius was nodding along, as well, sounding very convincing and straight up terrified of what he was saying. But there was also this... like acceptance. Almost like he'd accepted death or summin'.

"Well, just wanted to give you girls fair warning!" And then Scorpius turned back to Albus, wearing this wide grin.

The emotion, the complete picture was simply too good and the girls fell for it, their eyes stretching their sockets. They turned to each other and began whispering really fast and quietly but Albus did clearly hear one say in a panic, "We're gonna die!" and a snort just found a way out.

One of the girls glared at him but Albus pretended not to notice and she returned back to her group in a tizzy.

"That was brilliant!"

Scorpius grinned. " _Stop it, you're making me blush_." He couldn't have sounded more like a girl.

Albus laughed.

Scorpius beamed.

Suddenly a hush seemed to fall over them and then a squeaky voice went off, "Form a line!" trying to sound like proper authority all strict and all but it wasn't quite there. "And follow me."

Albus slinked in behind the trio of girls, who all looked horrified and terribly nervous now. Scorpius had been helpful enough to point this out from behind Albus, and it just about managed to ease his very own nerves.

Out the chamber, they went, back into the hall and then through these rather large double doors, and now, they were in the Great Hall.

Harry could clearly make out the floating candles in midair over the four house tables from his father's tales. And there were the shining goblets and the plates and the forks and the knives and cutlery that his uncle Ron seemingly never could be separated from, and up ahead was this large table with the teachers nicely tucked in, McGonagall gave him this soft smile as their eyes connected, clearly recognizing him as he did her.

Then Professor Flitwick had them turn to face the students giving the professors only their backs as he skittered out of sight.

Albus clearly saw his brother sitting at the Gryffindor, a crowd hovering over him. But his brother seemed oddly quiet and subdued today. His friends tried to get his attention but James would just nod, chuckle, give off this fake smirk and go right back to studying the first-years.

It was rather unnerving so Albus let his eyes roam the hall, looking for distractions.

He remembered his father encouraging him to look at the ceiling when he got to Hogwarts, "It's hard to believe there's even a ceiling there at all!"

His father did have a point.

There was no trace of any solid stuff, just this big black sea of nothingness dotted at random with stars, and all the way back there seemed to be a white bright moon shining helping out the candles which were flickering out every few seconds in a lousy job.

Professor Flitwick's hurried footfalls told Albus the Deputy was back and now, he had this stool in his hand that looked even bigger than him much to Albus's and Scorpius' amusement. Flitwick had also gone and gotten himself a rather manky old hat that he removed and placed on the stool and—

Albus gasped.

The Sorting Hat. It had to be.

Albus turned to Scorpius. "Guess your brother was just pulling your leg then," he whispered as the Hat began it's song.

Scorpius laughed. "Guess so."

The girls next to Albus looked very relieved. "I bet those girls are happy we don't have to face a troll."

Scorpius pulled a face. "That's not what my brother said."

Albus pulled his own face. "You actually do have a brother?" Albus thought that had just been for the joke. Besides, he'd yet to hear of _another_ Malfoy. And with his uncle Ron's _super_ fondness of Malfoy's, _surely_ , he'd have heard something by now.

Scorpius, though, just rolled his eyes. "No, but it's the story. Bet they're mighty pleased, though, that there aren't actually any zombies."

Ah yes, that had been it. Albus nodded. "Thought those were just in North America."

Scorpius shrugged. "Not my fault they were stupid enough to believe me."

They both laughed, and then clapped along as applauds sounded.

Chuckles sounded here and there as Flitwick struggled to unroll the long scroll of parchment in his hand but then finally, that was taken care of, and Flitwick cleared his throat, all-important-like and loud, and then—

"Aaron, Jackie!"

This short-haired girl stepped out from the line and approached the stool, her walk far from confident. She jammed the hat on, her eyes already closed before the hat had taken them out of sight.

Silence for awhile then—

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left exploded into applauds, and lil' Aaron scurried over to sit under this blue and bronze banner with an eagle on it right in the middle of the table. Several people around her stretched their hands for a handshake, being all warm and welcoming and Aaron was actually looking a bit freaked out now—

"Adkins, Phillips!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus could clearly see James and his friends whistling very loudly, James was banging the table and shaking his head and Adkins was beaming brightly as he approached the table on the far left, only to be roughed up a bit—much to his delight, apparently.

"Belby, Harrison!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Polite applauds followed Belby as he strolled over to the table second from the left. He took a couple of the handshakes, smiling back at those who did so to him and soon found himself sitting beside that Aaron girl, looking at Flitwick now.

"Blishwick, Aries!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Cowherds, Colin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Colin scuttled over to the table on the right, beaming brightly to bright applauds.

"Some names we have this year," Scorpius commented, the amusement obvious in his tone. Albus chuckled.

"Cram, Irving!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Albus clapped, rolling his eyes. This was getting boring.

"DeMarcus, Jesse!"

The boy that Hagrid had had to help out tumbled out of the line, wearing a relaxed, almost cocky grin as he took up the Hat. A moment's pause—

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus growled as he clapped politely. DeMarcus turned back after giving the Hat off and glanced at someone, nodded then walked back down to the Gryffindor table, acknowledging the applauds with nods and smiles. James even invited the twit over warmly.

"Can't believe _that_ is a Gryffindor!" Scorpius commented.

"Me neither!" Albus whispered just as "Daniels, Robert" got called up.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Emmanuel, Bart!"

"Hufflepuff for sure!" Scorpius whispered.

Harry took one glance at the shaky walk up and snorted. For sure.

They were right.

"Farley, Bella!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Farley gave a modest smile and walked down with her back straight to the Slytherin table, nodding at her greeting.

"Foley, Cygnus!" was up next. He'd been the one to point DeMarcus out after the boat ride.

And he became the very first male Slytherin!

Albus noticed the drastic drop in applauds for a new Slytherin. The Slytherins, though, did their very best to have their support be heard and make up for the lack of claps from the other houses. The teachers, as well, chipped in.

"Fortescue, Dana!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Goldstein, Morgan!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Goldstein almost skipped down to the Ravenclaw table.

"Horton, Oliver!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

And boy, did the Gryffindors know how to be loud?!

"Humphrey, Adams!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Humphrey couldn't possibly have been _more_ delighted.

"Isis, Layla."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Again, that lack of applauds, but Isis hardly seemed bothered, wearing this smirk as she almost glided down to the Slytherin table.

And now, finally, there were some wizarding families that Albus recognized.

"Jones, Phil!" became a Gryffindor, much to the delight of the Gryffindor faithful.

"MacDougal, Dora!" went to Ravenclaw.

"McLaggen, Anthony!" joined Gryffindor.

"Wish me luck," Scorpius said with a weak smirk when he was called. And in the end, Scorpius only had to sit on the stool for about ten seconds before the Hat declared him "SLYTHERIN!". Scorpius swaggered down to the Slytherin amidst the dead silence, his footfall echoing horribly.

"Morgan, Suzy!" went to Gryffindor.

And apparently, the Ollivander family was still going on. "Ollivander, Adolphus!" became a Hufflepuff.

"Parkin, Stevenson!" became a Hufflepuff as well.

And then finally, "Potter, Albus!"

Albus took in a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Waste of time!" someone was saying, almost complaining. "Gryffindor for sure!"

"Is that Potter's son?"

"Looks just like 'em."

Somebody aww'd. "He's _sooo_ cute!" Albus scowled just as he jammed the hat on.

"Another Potter?" said a voice in his ear. "This is a pleasant surprise. You Potters haven't produced more than one for centuries now.

"Another talented one. Very talented one. And clever, too. Just... where to put you?"

Albus gripped his stool very tightly and tried to hold onto his father's words at the station. He took in deep breaths, trying to convince himself he wasn't scared. Gryffindor'd be nice, he thought. But Scorpius—

"Yes... yes, you see it, Albus!" Albus scowled. "Do you want the best?"

"I thought you're supposed to give us the best?"

"Oh no, if that was the case, everyone would be in Slytherin!"

That shut Albus right up and his heartrate suddenly took off.

"Do we have an agreement?"

Albus couldn't give a response but he gave a small, weak nod.

"SLYTHERIN!" the Hat shouted to the hall. Albus ripped the Hat off his head and sucked in a deep breath in the library-like silence. Forced silence. Quiet without really knowing why.

Eyeballs focused on Albus, squinting and studying him like they couldn't quite believe what they were seeing as if Albus had suddenly been transfigured into some disgusting insect or summin'.

Albus sighed and handed off the Hat and trudged off to the Slytherin table, head-down so he didn't have to see his family's looks. Once he'd passed the Gryffindor table, he made sure to infuse some swagger into his step remembering that people were more likely to tease you if you looked scared.

Thankfully for him, Scorpius was beaming brightly at him, almost a beacon drawing him, gesturing at the space he'd created in between him and that boy—what was his name? Foley or something it had been—and Albus slipped in between the two and nodded at the Foley fella in greeting and those around, figuring it'd be better to be friendly and thankfully, most of them nodded back, even though yes, they did seem to do it _unwillingly_ and after slight pauses but they _did_ do it. And then turned back to watch the Sorting, dismissively, somehow.

Albus gave a sigh of relief and slumped back. Scorpius slapped him in the back. "Glad you made it, mate!"

"I'm not," Albus murmured.

Scorpius gave a grim smile. "Hey, at least you've got me! That's a bloody good choice, I'd say."

Perhaps, it was. Maybe, he hadn't. Either way, his sorting was done now and dusted. No changes. No more debating. No more pep talking.

He remembered his father word's at the platform that morning. "Every house would be lucky to have a student like you."

He glanced at the Slytherins around who were stonily ignoring him and watching the Sorting even though nothing was happening, Flitwick still a horrible concoction of a mess after Albus's sorting.

They didn't look to be feeling the luck in having Albus Potter!


	3. Dinner and Dingy Dungeons

Thankfully, it only took a full minute before the Sorting was back in full swing. Albus knew because he had been counting. He let out a breath when "Pyrites, Ace!" got called up because the students all seemed to stop watching him and give the Sorting attention again.

He rested his elbows on the table and his eyes landed on James.

His brother was watching him, too. His eyes looked dead, and there almost looked to be a question shining in them.

And then he saw Albus looking at him—only like after ages—and jaw hardened, and a tinge to his cheeks, James turned away.

A shadow sleeked past from behind Albus and he followed it. It was the "Pyrites" bloke. And he'd snagged himself a seat on the other side of Scorpius. Albus gave him a strained smile, figuring he'd bagged Slytherin if he'd popped up there.

"Renshaw, Ivan!" then those giggly girls all scored Ravenclaw much to their delight ("Ravenclaw," Scorpius hissed as he clapped. "There's a joke in there somewhere. I know it!") and then "Shafiq, Aiman!" was called up—

"There're still Shafiqs?" Scorpius was frowning while looking curious at the same time.

Albus shrugged. "Seems so."

Shafiq went to Ravenclaw. His sister, though, Hamira, went to Slytherin.

Albus gasped as pain spiked him. It came from his toe. He frowned as his brain caught up.

Scorpius had stepped onto his toe. He glanced into the boy's face but Scorpius was looking straight ahead like nothing happened. Albus frowned and considered Foley beside him but then Foley didn't look like that type of bloke. In fact, he looked like a good strong wind could do him in.

Albus joined in the applauds as his cousin gave him a sad smile then took herself over to the Gryffindor table and then suddenly there was this steady rise in volume and Albus could almost feel the air around him compress and tighten and he took in a breath and he glanced left only to get curious eye-balls baring into him, and then he decided the right looked alright but then there were eyes waiting for him there, as well. Downright unfriendly, black, charcoal eyes really.

And then, suddenly, it was over, and Albus took in a deep breath. A hand settled on Albus's back and Scorpius's blonde hair suddenly popped up next to Albus's face. "You alright?"

Albus sighed. "I'm fine." Scorpius held his eye for a while, so not convinced. And then he nodded and then he was smiling again and then suddenly there was a chicken in his hand and Albus gasped and Scorpius laughed as he took a bite.

"Dig in, mate!"

Albus gasped at the wide variety of food that had appeared across. Yes, he'd heard about it but it was another thing entirely to experience it. They all just seemed to scream "pick me; come on, mate, I'm better than him" and then wink and it was all a bit too much for Albus to decide so he just ended up getting a little bit of the roast beef and chicken, pork and lamb chops, the sausages he skipped because Scorpius had hogged that to himself and the older years down the table didn't look likely to share, and in the end, he only managed to get bacon onto his plate by nicking some off of Foley. Albus wasn't even sure how the boy didn't notice—it was like all he had on his plate to begin with—but Albus didn't give it much mind. Some people just didn't like food. As weird as that was.

It was all very nice and delicious, the food. With the right proportion of wetness and dryness and the flavour and... Albus moaned. The elves had outdone themselves.

And Scorpius seemed to be of the same mind next to him. He brought his head out of his meal for a second with this cocky smile that Albus was beginning to suspect was permanently stick-charmed to his lips. "I see you're not regretting your decision."

Albus felt the chicken in his hand limply fall out. "It wasn't," he murmured. "A decision. It wasn't a decision."

Scorpius was beaten into silence by that.

Then, he'd found a counter-attack because he cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, the Sorting Hat didn't wanna destroy greatness, I reckon." He nudged Albus in the shoulder and Albus snorted. "And besides," he continued, nodding at the Gryffindor table. "Is that what you wanted?"

There, at the Gryffindor table, blondie had his arms around his cousin, Rose, and she was actually laughing like there was something funny really, and then blondie actually leaned in—for real, no jokes, no games—and then just before he could kiss her ears or whatever bollocks he'd been planning, he pulled back and then now he was looking right into Albus and he was smirking and now, Rose had turned around too... and Fred, as well and there was Louis, Lucy, Roxanne, and there was James, as well and they were all giving him this look, this frown, or was it a smirk or some snarl... it was something! And it was new, he hadn't seen that before, not from them, not from anybody, really, come to—

"Breathe!" Scorpius said, his hand settling over his shoulder.

Albus grabbed onto the hand and squeezed—hard. He took a breath and felt himself slowly return to normal.

"You alright?" Scorpius whispered.

Albus gave a grim nod.

"Good." Scorpius said and this time, Albus felt the honesty ring. Scorpius leaned into him and Albus turned his ear to a good angle.

"Listen, it'll turn out all good. Really, you've made the best decision of your life. Bet you the next seven years end up being the best ever." Albus slumped in disappointment at the pep-talk. Really? "I know everyone rambles on and on about how Gryffindors are grand and great and all but my father reckons they're all just blighters—"

Albus frowned.

"—just kidding; but still, he said he had a grand ol' time in Slytherin and really, why beat yourself up for not being a Gryff? You're not your dad, the _great Harry Potter_ , and thank Merlin, too. You're you. And you know what, too, you're alright—at least for a Potter anyway."

Albus snorted. "Thanks," he muttered sarcastically.

Scorpius swatted it away without a bother. "No problem, mate."

And Scorpius went quiet for a while, grabbing a drink. He sighed once he'd downed it. "Look at this way, at least you're not a 'Puff!" Albus burst into laughter and Scorpius beamed next to him.

Maybe he was right, Albus thought as he scooped a spoon of ice-cream onto his plate. Just maybe.

So maybe he wasn't his father. Maybe he wasn't the Boy-Who-Lived. And really, wasn't it a bit stupid, foolish, incredibly daft to hope to be.

Didn't that mean Voldemort again? Or somebody on that level. To kill. And cement his name in the books.

Did it?

Albus dug into his ice-cream with energy.

Well, if he'd wanted that, it wasn't happening. He was in Slytherin now.

And at least he had Scorpius now, who clearly, like him, was the turning point in a famous family. And, like Scorpius had said, he wasn't a 'Puff. No matter how much Teddy raved about Hufflepuff, Albus would definitely have looked into suicide had he become a 'Puff. Definitely. He laughed and waved Scorpius's curious look off, and plain ignored the others.

And really, Albus thought, as he pushed his empty clean plate and settled his elbow upon the table, perhaps it was best he hadn't gone to Gryffindor. He was the one who never really enjoyed the whole family coming-together thing. And considering almost all his family had scored Gyffindor, perhaps, bagging Gryffindor would have been like all those family dinners. Just like everyday. Twenty-four-seven. Seven years long.

"Merlin," Albus breathed. "I think I just dodged a Killing Curse. Imagine if I'd been in Gryffindor."

Scorpius's head suddenly popped up from his meal and he laughed and pushed his now sparkling plate away and propped his elbows onto the table. "You're welcome." Scorpius winked and laughed again.

Albus snorted. "Whatever." Scorpius laughed even louder and now they were getting odd looks, but Scorpius just kept on laughing and soon, Albus too was struggling to control himself.

After awhile though, people turned away, interest gone and Albus was sure he heard someone say, "Nutters!" which kinda stung but he wasn't about to do anything about it. Not now, anyway. The girl was a third-year, he was guessing. If he got lucky and planned it well, he could definitely take her! Besides, his father—renowned youngest Auror and Head Auror ever—had taught him a spell... or two.

"Well," began the boy next to Albus. The boy pushed his plate away. It was clean. Like it had always been, really. Albus glanced back into the boy's face and watched as he pushed out the bangs from his eyes. "This is surprising. A Potter and a Malfoy. Together. Not duelling each other to the death, as well." Scorpius leaned in over Albus.

Albus smirked. "Don't give up hope just yet."

Scorpius snorted. "After all, we just got to Hogwarts."

Albus nodded. "Yeah, and our families literally hate each—"

"Loathe," Scorpius corrected.

"Loathe. Loathe each other. Honestly, I'd give it a week."

"Max."

Foley was frowning and squinting all at the same time which gave his this weird look like he was a bat what with his hair falling down over his forehead and his small eyes. "You two are weird."

Scorpius had somehow gotten himself another glass of pumpkin juice without Albus noticing. He downed it—fast. "Better weird than normal, I reckon. What's your name again? Didn't catch it."

The boy opened his mouth—

"Foley. Cygnus." Albus glanced back at Foley, who was left open-mouthed. "Right?"

He nodded, frowning at Albus.

Scorpius huh'd. "So, Foley, I'm guessing you're pretty new to all of this...?"

Albus tensed.

Foley was frowning. "Call me Cong, please, and what—"

"Cong?" Albus nodded. That totally tripped him up, too. "Man, what is up with the names this year? This young chap over here," —he elbowed the guy on his other side in the side and the guy jumped and peeked into the conversation—"goes by the name of Ace."

Albus cleared his throat, smiling broadly.

Ace, though, was blushing horribly. "It's a solid name, I'll have you know!"

Even Foley—or Cong, actually; Albus snorted—had to smile at that. "Oh sure, it is, mate. That's some solid small talk material for life right there, 'Guess what, lads? I'm an ace at something. My parents 'aced' my name'." Albus laughed and even Cong had to chuckle.

Ace, though, couldn't find the humour in it all and returned back to his meal, obviously not in too great of a mood. That kind of made it not funny, though and soon enough, no one was laughing anymore.

Scorpius took a moment to study the boy, and then he shrugged back at Albus's curious look. "Guess he's not an 'ace' at taking jokes." It was horrible, a horrible thing but Albus couldn't help but laugh.

Cong, too, looked like he was gonna laugh but he managed to turn his head away in the nick of time.

Ace seemed to turn even more stiff at their laughter. Albus winced and leaned forward, trying to get a glimpse of the boy. Ace seemed to read his mind and turned away even more. Albus slumped, blowing a breath out of his mouth. "Come on," he murmured. "Can't take a simple joke?"

Scorpius remained silent for once, sipping his pumpkin juice. "You can't be an ace at everything."

Albus smiled, doing his very best not to laugh. Cong was of the same mind because he immediately got himself a glass and stuck his head and laughed in it. It was a good effort, never mind that his laughter echoed in the empty glass—but points for effort, Albus figured.

And he made sure to tell Cong that.

"Not full points, though," Scorpius was quick to point out with that smirk.

Cong scowled.

Soon enough, McGonagall was on her feet and this hush fell seemed to lay heavy on them. "I hope you all enjoyed the banquet. The elves worked ever so hard on them." And, just like that, somehow there were at least twenty—maybe thirty—eyeballs on Albus and he sighed at the sudden weight but then thankfully, seconds later, it was gone.

"Whilst you may find your stomachs weighed down by the food contents of your very own selection, coincidentally, but you may want to keep your eye-lids from drooping." McGonagall gave this wide smile.

"Well then, hurry it up, you old hag!" Albus snorted. Cong choked and ended up having to clear his throat. And Ace—well, Albus couldn't really see his face. But he did look a lil' less lose so that was something.

"I would like for you to join me in welcoming the newest member of our staff. Professor Nott." She gestured carelessly behind and this tall, thin guy rose to his feet with this small smirk, dressed all black and all, never mind the brown hair. And he gave a lovely little wave and then polite lovely, little applauds sounded and Albus made sure to join in even though he could tell the school really wasn't feeling the guy.

"He will be the Potions Master as Professor Slughorn has decided to retire. For good, this time, he assures me." That clipped tone at the end. Albus shivered and laughed. "He will also be Slytherin's new Head of House." And that seemed to kill the applauds, like right there.

Nott gave a strained smile and returned to his seat.

McGonagall smiled as well, tightly. "The caretaker, Mr. Flich, has asked me to recommend a visit to his office to take a look at the latest banned items. All Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes items are obviously prohibited." There was this loud, long groan. It came mostly from the Gryffindor table. Scorpius did it, too.

Cong snorted. "Come on, is that _really_ a shock?"

"I was hoping," Scorpius complained.

Cong rolled his eyes.

"You'd do well to read over the rules and regulations in Hogwarts: A History, The Updated Version before undergoing any interesting adventures. This year the excuse that wasn't in the original rules has finally out-lived its usefulness."

Cong hmm'd. "That explains why we had to buy that book."

Albus cringed. He'd torn several pages out of the book to make paper Quidditch players. Hopefully, that wasn't gonna come Bludger him in the head.

"The Forbidden is—as its name suggests—forbidden.

"Goodluck to every one of you this term, and Goodnight. Would the HeadBoy and HeadGirl please stay over."

Albus rose from the bench, following the lead of the Slytherins around him. They were all heading towards the double doors, chatter erupting all around then so Albus made to follow but then there came this voice, "First years. Slytherin first years." It was this guy. Fifteen, or somewhere around that age, kinda big and burly like he'd definitely have little trouble keeping, and still very tall. And Albus could see from the silver badge shining on his robes, this was a Prefect.

The prefect gathered the first years in a little corner with a suit of armour and led them all out the Great Hall. Albus noticed that the other Slytherins had already taken the lead. He leaned into Scorpius beside him. "Notice how the first-years are always last?"

Scorpius shrugged back at him. Corey, though, frowned and offered his galleons. "They'd prefer we didn't get lost and then they'd have to send a squad come find us."

"Lovely deduction, _Corey_." Albus smiled, and he was rather glad they were in the dark, so it couldn't really be seen.

"Why d'you even have us call you Corey? What is it, like your middle name or summin'?" Scorpius sounded really curious actually.

Corey was silent for a while and Albus and Scorpius exchanged a grimace. So perhaps that was kinda personal.

"It's my middle name..." Albus huh'd. "It's Chinese for intelligent." Albus didn't say it but he was kinda wondering—

"My mom's Chinese," Corey rushed to explain.

Albus and Scorpius made this "Oh" sound of understanding.

"So... Corey, mind sitting next to me in class then?" Scorpius's smirk was so clear never mind the darkness. "I mean, you _are_ an intelligent bloke."

"Are you calling yourself dim?"

Albus laughed at Scorpius's face like he'd been slapped.

"Oi! You three in the back?" Albus squinted ahead and saw that the others had put in the quite the gap between them. "Pick up the pace. We don't have all night!" And the prefect didn't sound mighty pleased about that.

Albus and Scorpius broke into a trot and had erased the gap in seconds. Corey chose to just up the pace on his stroll and not long after, had caught up to the tail of the group. The prefect nodded at them.

"Hey, prefect," The prefect looked at Scorpius. "What was your name?"

"You shouldn't exactly need to know that, Malfoy." There was some amusement in there.

Scorpius must have heard it, too because he was scowling now. "Oh, so you get to know my name but I don't get to know yours? How's that for equality?"

The prefect chuckled and barked orders ahead for them to take a turn. Albus squinted, trying to place all that in memory. His father always said how difficult Hogwarts was to manoeuvre. In fact, that's why he'd given James the Marauder's Map. Since James had always been rubbish at directions.

"I'm afraid your argument has some holes, Malfoy. You are a first-year, Malfoy. And I happen to be a prefect. We're not quite... equal."

Scorpius scowled again.

Albus jumped in. "Wouldn't it be useful, though, to tell us your name? My father always says how he got lost loads when he was at Hogwarts. Said it was a huge castle. Now, say we did get lost or we needed help and we wanted your help all we'd have is—"

"Alright, fine!" Scorpius beamed at Albus. Albus winked back. Corey chuckled behind them.

The prefect instructed them along a series of complicated tunnels and turns and then now, they only had a long stretch of corridor to eat up.

"Wood. Theodore Wood."

"Wood?!" Scorpius repeated. "Like—"

"Your father's Oliver Wood?" Only like one of the best Quidditch players _ever_.

The prefect chuckled at the looks he was getting now. Even some of the girls were glancing back to listen now. Even though this was Quidditch.

"No, he's my father's brother's son so no—"

"Oliver Wood's your cousin?" That was Scorpius.

Wood gave a heavy sigh. "Yes, Malfoy. I have a famous family, too. Oliver Wood's my cousin."

Scorpius scowled, and went silent.

Albus, though, had some questions. "So, like, have you guys' ever met up to like chat or summin'?"

Wood gave him this look. "Oliver is like twenty years older than me."

Albus quickly did the math and realized Wood had a point. "So, that's a no?"

Wood was silent, for awhile. "No, actually we've met up a few times. I wanna become a Quidditch player, as well, when I'm done with school so he gives me pointers and sometimes, like this summer, I trained with him a bit."

Albus's jaw dropped open.

Even Scorpius had to break his silence. "No way," he breathed. "Are you on the team, then? I bet you're incredible."

Wood smirked. "I'm seeker. Oliver says with a wee bit of training and luck, I could be as good as your father, Potter." Albus huh'd. "Your father played seeker at school for Gryffindor. You knew that, right?"

Albus gave him a look. "I didn't know he was that good."

Wood gave him a look. "Oliver always said he could've made the League easily."

Huh. You don't say.

Wood drove them down another complicated series of turns and then rounded down on Corey, "So—Foley is it?" Corey nodded. "Tell me a bit about you."

Corey looked into Wood to make sure he was serious, and then shrugged. "Nothing much to tell." Wood raised an eyebrow and Corey shuffled a bit, and Albus even thought he heard a gulp and then said, "Well, my Mum is Chinese..." Wood hmm'd. "And um, I can already do the 'Expelliarmus'...?"

Wood nodded. "Nice." He didn't seem to mean it. Like at all. "So, Pyrites...?" Ace, aka no-ace-at-taking-jokes, turned around curiously. "What about you? Any interesting quirks?"

Ace thought it over and then shook his head really fast and then he walked even faster to catch up with the girls. And boy, didn't Wood look lost.

"Right..." Albus and Scorpius chuckled. "So, Shafiq, what's there to love in your life?" Shafiq glanced back curiously. And then she gave a little giggle.

"Well, the Shafiq's are back! And we're wealthy." She giggled again and joined the girls again. Ace had somehow wriggled himself in between them as well.

Wood sighed. " _Mighty Merlin, this is hell of a class, isn't it_?" He seemed to be talking to himself so Albus didn't respond, but he couldn't help but think that yes, this was a mighty dull class.

"Stop!" Wood commanded.

The girls ahead did just so and Albus and Scorpius and Corey walked after Wood as he went and then stopped before this large, round stone wall. Wood caressed the wall very softly. "D'you know what this is?"

"The entrance to the Slytherin Dungeons," Scorpius replied immediately. They all glanced at Scorpius, who just simply shrugged.

Wood chuckled. "You would know, wouldn't you, Malfoy?" Scorpius scowled. "And just how did your father tell you entrance to the Dungeons was given?"

Scorpius almost forced the words out of his mouth. "A password. Changed every fortnight."

Wood nodded. "Indeed. And just what did your father have to say about what happens to those who give up the location and password to the Dungeons?"

Scorpius was stony-faced. But he didn't answer. Wood gave this tut. "No outsider has been inside the Slytherin common room for ages now. Seven centuries, to be precise." Wood gave this rather scary smirk. "We _would_ like to preserve that, wouldn't we?"

Albus gulped.

And he was glad to know that even Scorpius looked a bit bothered by that.

"Revolution."

The stone walls slid up slowly to reveal a passageway.

Wood gestured in and the students slinked in.

Chatter hit them right away. The rest of Slytherin must already have arrived.

The passageway was dark. No lights with the rough floor. It was like being in a cave. But a very short one, in distance at least. It was of a fair height, Albus saw when he looked up.

Then they reached a small polished, marble staircase—

Somebody cleared his voice behind them. It was Wood. And he was wearing this tight smile. "You can't go in there just yet." Albus frowned.

A man stepped out of the clearing in the passageway and they gasped.

It was the new professor guy. Nott or something.

It was difficult to see his face, really, in the dark but his brown eyes almost shone. "Thank you, Wood."

Wood nodded and slinked past the students into the common room, leaving them to their Head of House.

It was silent, too quiet.

They could even hear some splashing sound in the distant background.

"I suppose congratulations are in order." Nott gave a tight smile and clapped his palms together. "Now that that's been taken care of—I must inform you students about a couple of things. This happens to be my first year teaching. And my very first as Head of House.

"Who here has family members formerly in Slytherin House?" he asked curiously.

Everybody raised their hands up. Except Albus. And Corey.

Nott nodded, almost like he had expected that.

"Well, I have some news for you. Whatever stories your parents told you about the Slytherin of the old are just that—stories. It's a new age. And a new House. Things are different today than they used to."

Scorpius frowned at Albus, who shrugged. It's not like _he_ knew what the guy was going on about.

"What hasn't changed is the togetherness we Slytherins try to project. This year we were lucky to get a small group." Albus glanced around and realized there were just eight of them. "The Slytherin mentality is to stick together. Always.

"Whatever problems you have with your housemates—and you will have them as you're human beings—solve them behind the Dungeon door! I will hear of no disputes or spats about my House outside. If you have a problem with another House member, make sure to act with the House characteristics in mind: cunning and ambitious."

Albus gulped as Nott's eye landed on him but thankfully, it was gone quick.

"You may receive a lot of... stick outside the Dungeons for being a snake. But remember, there's nothing wrong with being a snake. There is something wrong with not acting like one." Albus frowned and he even heard a couple of his classmates let out a 'huh?'

Nott, though, just smiled. "Wood, take them to their dormitories. Breakfast begins at 7: 30. Classes begin at 9: 05. Remember, whatever problems you have please bring them to me or seek out a prefect like Wood here." Wood chuckled at Nott's side. "Goodnight, and goodluck." Then, Nott whirled around and straight out the stone wall, he went with this rapid walk.


End file.
